Floating structure



Feb; 12,1929. Y 1,701,874*

" l w. T. DONNELLY FLOATING? STRUCTURE v Filed June 8, 192e 2 'sheets-sheet 1 i HH! 1 ili M T' lli@ INVENToR. A VIII/am 7.' Donne/I q.

I i /1 l j ATTORNEY l Feb. 12, 1929.

w. T. DoNNx-:LLY

FLOATING STRUCTURE La sheets-sheer 2 Filed June 8, 1926 INI/Emol; VII/11am I Hanne/I q. BY

`A TToRNEY Patented Feb, l2, M3229,

tiviil'l WILLAM 'I'. DONNELLY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FLOATING STRUCTURE.

Application led .Tune S, 1926.

The invention relates to floating structures such as ships and other bodies adapted for supporting loads or superstructures upon the water. lt has for its object to render such floating structures practically unsinkable and thereby safeguard the lives of passengers, as well as any cargo, which may be carried thereon. A. i'urther object or' the invention consists in the arrangement whereby, should the hull be penetrated in any manner, water could not pass the filling material employed, and, in tact, the invention contemplates the provision et positive counter-pressure working against the same. A further object of the invention resides in the arrangement of the mass of iilling material to such a height that the pressure eirerted thereby at any point within the shell is as great or greaterthan the pressure of the water at the same point upon the outside of the said shell. The construction is suoli,

moreover, that the shell is relieved of pressure at no excessive increase of dead weight.

To this end, my invention consists oit filling substantially the entire shell or hull which is to be used tor displacement with individual, hollow, air-tight tanks or boxes and preferably of suoli form as' to leave small intermediate i'ree spaces or voids between them. rlhese spaces, in accordance with my invention, are to be filled with a more or less liquid material and preferably a material which at moderately reduced temperatures will assume the characteristics ot a solid; or a material or character similar to liquid hydraulic cement which, after being placed as a liquid material, will change by setting and assume the characteristics of a solid material. Y

The material so introduced not only fills all the voids, but binds the entire aggregate of boxes or tanks into one solid, rigid mass.

The nature of the invention, however,-

will best be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of a. ship with' portions oit' the hull and deck broken away to disclose the interior, and also with portionsl shown in section.

Figure 2 is a transverse section thru the vessel, taken on the line 2-2, Figure l, and. lookiiur ln the direction of the arrows.

.tanks to the bottom of the ship.

c, e is a plan et the vessei with peri Serial No. 114,399.

tions of the d ,ck broken away to disclose the manner oi locating the buoyancy tanks.

Figures le and 5 are fragmentary horizon tal sections thru buoyancy tanks and filling material and illustrate different methods of arranging the tanks Figure (i is a vertical section, taken on the line .6--6, Figure 5, and looking in the direction of the arrows. f

Figure 7 is a transverse vsection thru the ship, similar to Figure 2, but showing a modification in the manner of positioning the tanks and also in the deck construction.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating the manner of fastening the tanks to the type of deck indicated in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the manner oi connecting the Referring tothe drawings, l() designates a float-ing structure as a ship designed to carry passengers, cargo, or both, Vor to support any desired superstructure whichis to. be safeguarded against sinking; and the iioating structure may be provided Y with means to propel the same. Or, it may be arranged to be towed, or merely fixed at some convenient water location, all of which is well understood and forms -no particular` part of the invention. When of the vessel type, as indicated in Figure l, the floating structure may be equipped with a suitable driving engine ll as an internal combustion engine which, in turn, rotates a propeller l2 in manner well understood to move said vessel.

In accordance with the invention, as much Vas possible of the entire hull or shell is to be occupied with (hollow,h airtight metallic tanks 13; and the engine ll is, therefore, provided considerably up in the hull as shown rather than at the bottom as the usual practice. Acabin 14 may be provided for the engine ll as well as a cabin 15 for the captain of the ship. The deck is intended to be as far as possible clear; but I do not wish to be restricted to the particular arrangement set "forth, asv various characters ot superstructures may be supported by the :Hoating shell or hull l0, the invention contemplating the erection thereon even ofper- Ymarient living quarters on. an appreciable scale., as well as the storage et eointiedities in theprovision of suitable warehouses on the floating structure. y l

l am aware that it has beenproposed heretofore to provide against the sinking of a V change of temperature or by a setting procfess, as in the case of l'iydr'aulic cement,

changes `its properties to those of a solid; It is further to be understood that in the process of introducing the filling material vand while the same is still in a more or less YliquidV form, the pressure head-or surface of the said material within the hull `is carried to. such a height in relation to the outside load waterline thatY the resulting hydrostatic head .or pressure within will be equal to or `greater thanthe water pressure without up- Qen equivalent areas, when the floating body is carrying the load for which it is designed.

Moreover, it is to be understood that the material used is of such a nature as to protect both the interior of the vessel and the exterior -of the tanks or floats -contained therein. Suitable material for the` purpose isbituminous pitch `of such characteristics that it will flow as a semi-liquid at a moderate rise of temperature and set to a firm solid :upon cooling to vordinary atmospheric temperature. Portland cement of the usual grade, and generally known as hydraulic ce yment,is also an excellent material for this purpose. Y

It is preferred, in locating the tanks in the hull, to set the same into groups as by suitable walls or bulkheads 20; and the arrangement of the tanks may be either in vrows of adjacent tanks asindicated in Figure ory in rows of staggered tanks as indicated in Figure 4, the latter arrangement affording greater buoyancy space proportionately to the weight of metal employed.

l Smaller tanks 2l may be included between lthe largerl tanks, the balance of the free space being then filled with the bituminous or other material 22, which material occupies betwecnt and 5 per cent of the total space. Thebottom of the tanks may be adapted to conform to the bottom 23 ofY the ship,

Figure 7'; or, the tanks may be flat both at the top and bottom, as indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings. In the latter construction,

L'a greater 4amount of filling material will be required over the ship than in the construction indicated in Figure 7, it being under-` stood that this material may continue over AtheV 'sides aswell and also over the tops of the tanks, as indicated in `Figure 2. ln the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the deck is formed directly over ,theupper surface filling material, said upper surface of the concrete then providing Athe deck.

I have found it desirable, also, toanchor a number of tanks along the shell or hull; and this may conveniently be effected, forY example, by `flattening out the lower end of `the smaller type of tanks and then riveting the flattened portion 26 thereof to the frame 27 attached to the frame of the ship, as indicated in Figure 9 of the drawings. In the embodiment illustrated in F igure 7. and in which a concrete covering is provided over thetops of the tanks, I prefer to reinforce this concrete by rods 28 and to anchor the flattened upper ends 29 of certain of the smaller type tanks, as by providing an eye 30 thereon thru which the rods are 4passed before pouring the concrete, .as indicated more clearly in Figure 8 of the drawings. By thus securing certain of the tanks inthe aforesaid manner, the same perform all of the functions ofV a hollow'stanchion or column of` a ship. of ordinary structure, and

the rigidity of the hull or shell is further enhanced. f y

I claim: Y y l. A floating structure, comprising a shell,

a plurality of air-tight buoyancy tanks distributed therein to occupy substantially the entire displacement space of the shell, and a .filling materialenveloping said tanks to occupy substantially the remaining space between the shell and tanks as well as between vindividual tanks,A said material filling the shell to a height to exclude external liquid through the establishment of a` graduated pressure in the interior of the shell equal to or in excess of the pressure outside the same.

2, .A floatingstructure, comprising a shell,

Ya plurality of air-tight buoyancy tanks distributed'and held therein, and a filling material, capable of attaining under moderate temperatures a semi-liquid condition, in the voids between said tanks and between said tanks and shell and extending to a height Vproviding a head inexcess of the hydrostatic head of the water in which the structure floats.

i i2 3. A floating structure, comprising a` shell,

a plurality of air-tight buoyancy tanks .distributed and held therein, certain of said. tanks being flattened at their ends and provided with eyes for attachment purposes, a

fillingmaterial inV the voids betweensaid tanks and between saidv tanks and shell and extending up to the load waterline, a covering of` concrete over the tops of said tanks and fillingmaterial, and horizontally dis- 5 tributed and held therein, a illing material in the voids between said tanks and between said tanks and shell and extending up to the load water line,` a deck over the tops of said tanks and filling material and a number of the tanks being secured to the bottom and to the said deck to serve both as coinpression and tension members between the deek and bottom of the floating structure.

5. The method of excluding water from the interior of a structure floating therein, which consists in filling substantially the entire interior space with air-tight buoyancy members and then introducing in the voids between said members and between the members and said structure a filling material in a liquid condition to produce graduated pressures therein which, when the structure is floating7 will be at all points equal to or greater than the pressure from Without the structure, said liquid filling material subsequently solidifying.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

WILLIAM T. DONNELLY. 

